Blast in northern Israel near border with Lebanon wounds at least 20

On Monday, a tragic explosion claimed the life of a boy and injured approximately 19 others during a school trip near the Lebanese border in northern Israel, Defence Minister Israel Katz announced. The incident occurred while a group of Israeli high school students were hiking, leading officials to suspect unexploded ordnance was the cause.

"I share in the heavy grief of the family of the boy who was killed in the explosion during the trip near the northern border, and I wish a swift and full recovery to all the injured," Katz conveyed on the social media platform X, pledging that the incident was under investigation.

The military swiftly deployed soldiers and helicopters to the scene in northern Israel, an area from which Israeli forces have been conducting military operations against Lebanon, where Hezbollah has periodically launched rocket attacks. Medical sources cited by the Israeli police suggested that unexploded ordnance was the initial cause of the explosion, resulting in severe injuries to around 20 people, comprising both students and staff from a religious high school participating in the outing.

The municipality of Maalot-Tarshiha, a northern city, reported that the emergency services had treated eight of the injuries as serious or moderate.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended his scheduled activities to assess the "severe incident," with his office stating that he directed the rapid evacuation of the injured to hospitals and continued evaluation of the situation. The military informed that their personnel were on-site to offer aid, while the air force dispatched helicopters to the location.